A Real Life Nightmare
by CurvyPragmatist
Summary: Four days before Halloween Miranda's world is shaken by a terrifying ordeal and an assistant who refuses leave her side.
1. Chapter 1

**Monday 27th October**

It had been a very long day and Andy's eyelids knew it. The day had started with a phone call at five o'clock in the morning, of course it had been Miranda, no-one else would have called at such an absurd time. Since that moment Andy had been up, awake and dealing with all the tasks that a first assistant of Miranda Priestly had to deal with.

Emily had been promoted two weeks earlier and was now enjoying the highlife at Runway in Tokyo. Andy foolishly thought that being promoted to first assistant meant that Miranda had finished testing her and would now be focussing her efforts on the newly hired second assistant but if anything Miranda seemed to be testing Andy even more than usual. No second assistant had lasted more than two days and Andy found she was doing the work of two of Miranda's assistants, which technically meant the work of four people.

The book had thankfully arrived at her desk early, if half past eight in the evening could be considered early for someone who had been awake since five that morning. Andy sat in the back of the chauffeur-driven town car with the book on her lap and her head lolling gently from side to side on the soft leather headrest.

She was pretty sure she had fallen asleep a couple of times on the way to Miranda's house and was looking forward to dropping the book off and getting the subway home and having an early night. Since Emily had been promoted Andy had been working early mornings, late evenings and even weekends in a bid to appease Miranda and achieve her impossible demands. Still it wasn't like there was anything else in her life, Nate was long gone, her parents communicated with her solely through short text messages and her friends had stopped communicating at all. The only thing Andy had outside of Runway was Vera the English Ivy houseplant and, if Andy was brutally honest with herself, even Vera was starting to wilt. _So much for being one of the top 10 easiest houseplants to keep_, Andy thought to herself with a sigh.

"Sorry Andy," the driver called out apologetically, "the road is closed off, I'll have to drop you here.."

Andy blinked her eyes a little to clear the cobwebs and return to full alertness. She looked up and could see that a police car was blocking entry to the road up ahead, Miranda's road.

"Its fine, I'll walk up," Andy said as she opened the car door and stepped out with the book and her handbag. She closed the car door and stepped up onto the sidewalk, wrapping her long black coat around her to keep the autumn wind out. As she walked up towards the road block she could see two young children dressed as ghosts walking towards her with an older woman in between them.

"Why are the police there, Mommy?" one of the ghosts asked.

"I don't know, Sweetie, it's probably nothing. Did you like the party?" the older woman replied and smiled at Andy as family passed her by. Andy smiled warmly at the kids and nodded to the mother as she passed them.

As she approached the police car she looked around to see if there was an officer anywhere near the car blocking the road but there wasn't. She glanced up the road and could see a further two police cars and an ambulance, all in the street and all with emergency lights blinking continuously and lighting up the entire street in an eerie glow.

Andy walked up the road towards the hub of activity and as she got closer she realised with horror that the centre of all the commotion was Miranda's house. She picked up the pace and walked as quickly as her tall heels would carry her towards the steps of the house where she saw two male police officers speaking.

"Is she okay?" Andy said hurriedly to one of the officers, "is Miranda okay?"

"Whoa, calm down there, Speedy," the officer said as Andy nearly ran into him, he noticed the book in her hands, "Runway, you work for Miranda?"

Andy nodded, "yes, I'm Andy Sachs, Miranda's assistant, is she okay?"

"Yes, in a manner of speaking," the officer said as he stood to one side, "come inside."

Andy followed him up the stairs and into the hallway of the townhouse where there were three police officers and two paramedics going about various duties. In the middle of the hallway sat Miranda on a dining room chair that had clearly been brought into the hallway for her to sit on, a female paramedic was attempting to clean a small bloodied wound in her hairline but Miranda kept shifting in her seat with impatience.

"I told you, I don't know," Miranda told a male police officer with annoyance, "shouldn't you be closing down bridges and searching vehicles rather than cross-examining me!"

It was as close to shouting as Andy had ever heard Miranda come and she immediately knew that whatever happened was incredibly serious. Miranda hadn't seen her come in so Andy took the opportunity to examine the older woman, the cut in her hairline wasn't her only injury. She appeared to be holding her left wrist gently in her right hand and a bruise was forming on the right hand side of her face.

The officer who had led Andy into the house had gotten a notepad and a pen and now stood in front of her, "sorry, Miss, what was your name again?"

"Andy Sachs," Andy muttered without taking her eyes off of Miranda, "what's happened?"

"Miss Priestly's daughters have been kidnapped," the officer said quietly.

Andy tore her eyes from Miranda and stared at the officer in shock. She opened her mouth to speak but had no idea what to say so closed it again.

"Do you know anyone who might wish harm to Miss Priestly, or her daughters?" the officer asked.

"No," Andy shook her head, "well, she's.. Miranda isn't exactly the easiest person to get along with. But I don't know of anyone who would do this to her.. Did it, did it happen here?"

"No," the officer shook her head, "they were returning from dinner, Miss Priestly was driving and another vehicle pushed the family car from the road. The girls were taken from the family car. It was a silver van, do you know anyone who owns a silver van?"

Andy shook her head, "sorry, no.."

"Okay," the officer replied, "I'm Lieutenant Greene, but call me Ryan, if you remember anything, no matter how small or insignificant you think it might be, let me know."

Andy nodded distractedly and looked at Miranda again who was speaking with another police officer, he was in his late fifties with short but thick grey hair, a moustache and wore glasses and a cheap suit, "who's that?"

Ryan followed Andy's eyes, "that's the boss, Inspector Don Mundy."

"Andréa?" Miranda looked directly at the girl with some confusion.

Andy took a deep breath and stood tall as she walked across the marble foyer to where Miranda was sat, "I was just delivering the book," she explained, "I'm so sorry, Miranda.."

"Andréa what was the name of that ghastly movie the girls watched a couple of months ago?" Miranda asked in distraction.

"Erm, I.." Andy started in confusion.

"You know the one, their father foolishly allowed them access to some online film service and they watched that scary movie.. When they got home they couldn't sleep.. You told me you had seen it?"

"Oh," Andy remembered, "Scream?"

"Yes," Miranda replied with a soft nod before turning her attention to the Inspector, "the mask was the one featured in that movie."

The Inspector looked at Andy with a smile, "and you are, Miss?"

"Sachs, Andy Sachs, Lieutenant Greene showed me in," Andy shook the proffered hand of the Inspector.

"Don Mundy," he said.

"Andréa is my assistant," Miranda whispered quietly.

"I see, so, Miss.. Miranda," Don corrected himself quickly, "were they both wearing those masks?"

"I believe so," Miranda nodded, "it was difficult to tell."

"But you're sure there were more than one of them?"

"Yes," Miranda agreed.

"Possibly two but maybe more that you didn't see," Don continued.

"Indeed."

"They were all wearing masks and one was definitely wearing the Scream mask and the other may have been wearing that too?" Don said in an attempt to clarify.

"Inspector," Miranda said with an icy tone, "my girls are missing, how much longer are we going to sit here and repeat what I told you thirty minutes ago?"

"My people are working on this case as we speak," Don replied without a beat before he bent down to meet Miranda eye to eye, "I know it feels like we are wasting time but I give you my assurance that we are doing everything we can. You've been through a hell of an ordeal and it is my experience that after such a shock your mind can play tricks on you, the more you remember, the better."

Andy looked from Don to Miranda anxious to see how Miranda was going to react to the rational explanation in her current state of distress. After a moment she nodded and Don smiled, "are you sure you don't want the paramedics to take a look at that wrist?"

Miranda pursed her lips and looked away in aversion to the very notion, Andy could see that Miranda was holding it together very well but that certainly wasn't going to last.

"I've had first aid training, my Mom is a nurse," Andy said to the female paramedic who was anxiously standing behind Miranda.

The paramedic's face lit up, "great, let me give you some things and then we can get out of your hair."

Andy and the female paramedic walked out to the ambulance to get some supplies and Don called Ryan over, "add to the report that the masks used were from the film Scream, Ryan."

"I'll add it but that ghostface mask is everywhere and it's Halloween in four days," Ryan pointed out, "I've even got one in my car.."

Don nodded and then turned his attention back to Miranda, "with your permission I'd like Lieutenant Greene to stay here overnight. There's a good chance that the kidnappers will call the house."

Miranda looked up at Don, "to demand a ransom I presume?"

Don nodded grimly.

"And when that occurs is there a protocol that is recommended?" Miranda asked.

"All kidnap cases are different," Don admitted, "we generally recommend to not negotiate or pay any ransom. It sends a message to the kidnappers that their crime pays, literally, and it also puts other kidnap targets at risk."

Miranda look confused, "then what do you recommend?"

Don looked pointedly at Miranda, "our recommendation is to not negotiate with terrorists but if it were my daughter than I'd have trouble following that advice.."

Miranda nodded, "I see.. Thank you, Inspector," she stood up gingerly, "so I take it we now wait?"

Don nodded, "yes, unfortunately.."

Andy came back into the townhouse with a small paper bag, "the paramedics are leaving," she announced to the group.

Don nodded, "I'll leave you in Lieutenant Greene's capable hands and I'll get back to the incident room and coordinate the team from there."

With a small nod Miranda made her way towards the stairs and started to climb to the first floor. Don got his team together and they started to file out of the house, as he passed Andy he leaned in, "is there anyone who can stay with her?"

"Er, I don't think so, just me," Andy admitted.

"I think she'll need some support to get through this, I can see she's not as tough as she makes out," Don said as he watched the older woman disappear to the anonymity of the first floor.

Andy gave a small snort, "no, she's pretty damn tough!"

"Maybe in the office," Don laughed, "I've heard the stories about her.. but this is her kids."

Andy nodded, "I'll stay a while."

"Ryan will be here if you need anything," Don said and then he and the other officers filed out of the hallway and closed the front door behind them. Andy turned around and saw Ryan was putting the dining room chair back into the dining room, she looked up the stairs with a sense of foreboding and sighed.

"I'm.. er, I'm going to head upstairs and see if I can clean that wound for her," Andy said to Ryan.

He nodded, "okay, I'll set up in the dining room and I'll stay down here so if you need anything give me a shout."

Andy nodded and her eyes flicked towards the stairs. Looking back at him she sighed, "I might be kicked out and be back down in two seconds, we'll see.."

Clutching the paper bag of medical essentials to her chest she quickly climbed the stairs all the while taking deep breaths in an attempt to keep herself calm and not remember the only other time she had mistakenly climbed the dreaded stairs.

As she got to the top of the stairs she noticed that the doors to the living room to the right were slightly closed, assuming that was where Miranda had gone she stood in front of the door and fidgeted with her outfit only then realising she still wore her winter coat. She did as best as she could before gently knocking on the door and waiting quietly for a reply.

"Come in, Andréa," Miranda's soft voice drifted through the gap in the door so quietly Andy nearly missed it altogether.

Andy opened the door and her heart froze at the image of Miranda sitting on the edge of the coffee table with her head in her hands and her fingers raked through her soft white hair. This wasn't the Miranda who sat with such delicate poise, this was a Miranda who had lost all hope and was devastated to the core.

Andy closed the door behind her and slowly came closer into the room, "Miranda?"

Miranda looked up and for the second time in their lives together Miranda's tear stained eyes connected with Andy's compassionate gaze. The usually untouchably powerful Editor looked utterly broken as she stared at Andy with distant eyes, "Andréa.. my girls.."

Andy put the paper bag down on a table as she sat on the edge of the sofa by the coffee table Miranda had perched on, "I'm so, so sorry, Miranda.. if there was anything I could do.."

Miranda's eyes were glazed with tears as she stared off into nothingness, "it all happened so fast, they say it does and it does."

"Do.. do you want to talk about it?" Andy asked knowing that she had broken one of the cardinal sins of dealing with her boss, asking Miranda a direct question. To her surprise Miranda continued talking and staring off into a distant abyss as if Andy were not even there.

"I keep going over it my head, why did we go to dinner tonight? We were not planning to. Then why did I drive? I thought it would be quicker, but we should have taken the car. Would this have happened if we had just waited for the car? And I didn't take the normal route, I took the backstreets, what was I thinking to take the backstreets?"

"You couldn't have known, Miranda," Andy soothed, not sure if the older woman was even listening to her.

"So fast, I thought it was an accident, some fool had hit the side of the car. But then it happened again," tears started to fall more readily down Miranda's face and she made no move to get rid of them as she cradled her injured wrist in her lap and held the edge of the coffee table with a powerful grip with the other.

"I was disorientated, there was glass everywhere from the shattered windscreen and the airbag had deployed in my face with such a force it had nearly knocked me out and then it seemed to take forever to deflate and then I was fighting to get it away from me. I wanted to check if the girls were injured, but then the front passenger door opened and there he was in that awful mask. Before I knew what was happening the back door was opened and I heard Caroline screaming for me," she turned and looked at Andy with horror in her eyes, "she was screaming and I turned to see someone was pulling her from the car and then the man who had opened the front passenger door pulled Cassidy from the car. I reached for her but I couldn't get my seatbelt off.. I didn't know what to do. It was happening so fast."

Andy nodded and felt a tear fall down her own face, "it sounds organised.."

"Why would someone do this to my precious girls?" Miranda whispered to Andy.

"Miranda.. I need to look at that cut, you might have glass in it," Andy gestured to the cut on Miranda's forehead, "will you let me have a look and clean it?"

Miranda nodded a vague nod and continued to stare into nothing. It was clear to Andy that Miranda had kept herself cool and collected with adrenaline for as long as she could but now that adrenaline was wearing off and the shock was hitting her.

Andy stood up and opened the paper bag and got out some cotton wool balls and some cleansing lotion and stood beside Miranda and bent slightly to examine the wound, "the good news is I can't see any glass but this may sting a little.."

The brunette took the lack of response as the go ahead to proceed and gently cleaned the wound and cleaned some of the dried blood from Miranda's hair. Andy had always been great with first aid, her mother had taught her from a young age and even when she had dolls as a little girl she was always patching them up. She approached Miranda with much care and worked as gently as possible and despite Miranda's fierce reputation Andy found that she thought of Miranda as fragile especially when she was this close to her.

Miranda's pale skin was even paler and the cut looked angry and vicious against the pale skin, the dried blood streaked through white hair was such a frightening contrast and all the while Miranda sat in stunned silence. Something inside Andy changed, she felt compassion towards the normally harsh woman. She wanted to help, not just to be a good assistant but to take away some of the immense emotional anguish and pain that Miranda was clearly feeling.

Andy finished cleaning the wound and placed two small strips across the cut to help the skin knit together without leaving a scar, "how is your wrist?"

Miranda didn't answer but not in the usual arrogant way that Miranda would ignore her in the office. This was entirely different, it was as if Miranda was shutting down in some way and it scared Andy to see the usually strong woman looking so lost and helpless in front of her.

Andy bent down and placed herself directly in front of Miranda's line of vision and was grateful when the older woman's unfocused eyes flickered and found their way to hers. Andy gave a small but sad smile and opened her mouth to again enquire about Miranda's wrist but Miranda spoke first in a hushed and bewildered tone, "Andréa, why are you here?"

For a few seconds Andy was silent as she debated what Miranda meant and then Miranda spoke again, "you delivered the book, your duties are complete. Why are you still here?"

"Because I want to be," Andy answered without hesitation, "I'm not here as your assistant, I'm here as a friend, whether you want it or not."

The concept of Andy staying as a friend and not a harassed employee clearly confused Miranda even further and Andy took the opportunity to examine Miranda's wrist, all the while trying to avoid Miranda's questioning gaze as she studied the younger woman as if she were a front cover layout.

Deciding the sprain needed to be patched up Andy stood and returned to the paper bag that the paramedic had given her and got a fabric wrist guard which had metal strips in order to hold the wrist steady. She walked back towards Miranda and noisily cracked the Velcro fastening open, she bent down in front of Miranda again and took Miranda's hand gently in her own and guided it into the wrist guard. Once it was in position she delicately secured the fastenings and looked up at Miranda, for the first time she realised how close they were, closer than they had ever been before. Andy could feel Miranda's warm breath on her face and the intensity of the confused stare made her want to reach across the tiny distance and hold the Editor in her arms, kiss her soft hair and promise her that everything would be all right.

A flash of realisation came to Andy and she smiled softly before standing up again to break eye contact with Miranda. Andy took a deep breath as she cleared all of the confusing thoughts from her mind and then mentally kicked herself for even thinking of taking advantage of Miranda during such a stressful time. Andy knew that somewhere in her brain she had been having strange feelings about Miranda for a while now, she knew what she would describe them as if someone else had described them to her. But knowing this was Andy Sachs and Miranda Priestly was knowledge enough that this must have been something different, there was no way that Andy could possibly have romantic feelings for that woman. Andy had decided long ago that she was suffering from a strange form of Stockholm Syndrome, knowing that Miranda was responsible for her financial income as well as her tortured work life placed her in a strange situation.

With a shake of the head Andy berated herself for revisiting these thoughts now of all times and turned back to face Miranda who was still perched on the edge of the coffee table and still looking like her entire world had been ripped apart at the seams.

"Miranda, can I get you anything, a drink? Something to eat?" Andy tried to put their relationship back on more solid ground, something she understood like a coffee order.

"No, thank you," Miranda said without a hint of the Runway Editor in her tone.

Andy nodded as she glanced around the luscious living room, "the edge of the table must be uncomfortable, why don't you sit on the sofa instead?"

Miranda looked up at Andy as if she just suggested the most ridiculous notion, "why would my comfort matter?" It lacked the bite of a usual Miranda retort and it seemed to be more a genuine question.

"Because this might take some time and you need to be well-rested," Andy replied as she picked up a sinfully soft blanket from a footstool and unfolded it. Andy pointed to the sofa beside the coffee table with as much authority as she could muster over her boss and Miranda gave the smallest of nods as she moved herself to the sofa.

The older woman looked up with a questioning yet combative glance, as if demanding to know if her new location would suffice the brunette's requirements of her.

Andy continued fluffing the blanket and avoided eye contact with Miranda, she knew all too well of the look she was receiving from Miranda, "shoes."

With a small sigh Miranda reached down and gently removed each shoe and placed them neatly besides the coffee table.

"I think you should take that jacket off," Andy almost stuttered in hesitation as she realised she was commanding her boss to undress for her.

Miranda looked down at the jacket and started to shrug her way out of the garment, when she began to struggle because of her wrist Andy leaned in and assisted. Before long Andy was tucking the blanket around Miranda and folding the discarded jacket and placing it on the back of the sofa.

With a raised eyebrow Miranda watched as Andy sat in an armchair and leaned back and closed her eyes. A few quiet moments passed before Miranda softly spoke, "what are you doing?"

Without opening her eyes Andy replied, "resting, it might be a long wait so I'm resting while I can."

"You're.. staying?" Miranda asked and despite not having her eyes open Andy could sense the surprise in her tone.

"Of course," Andy replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "wake me if you need anything at all."


	2. Chapter 2

**Tuesday 28th October**

Exhaustion was the main reason that Andy fell asleep that evening, the day had completely drained her both mentally and physically and the luxurious softness of Miranda's designer furniture was more than enough to send the young woman into a slumber.

It seemed that Miranda had also slept as the events of the evening took their toll and fatigue swept through her body. Andy had woken a couple of times during the evening to hear the Editor mumbling in her sleep as nightmares took hold of her. While she couldn't make out what was being said she knew the nightmares involved the girls and their abduction, each time Andy had awoken she had gently crossed the room to the sleeping woman and soothed her with quiet words. After a while the Editor would quieten down and Andy would adjust the blanket as if swaddling a baby before returning to her own chair.

The sound of the house phone ringing jolted them both awake and, as Andy was still adjusting to her surroundings, Miranda picked up the cordless phone and answered with a tense, "yes?"

Andy sprung from her chair and crossed to stand next to Miranda, close enough to make her presence known in a pointless attempt to offer some comfort but far enough away to offer some privacy if required.

Miranda stared at the floor as she nodded silently as she listened to the call intently, seemingly hearing a long stream of words. There seemed to be a break and Miranda attempted to speak but before she had a chance to even form the first word she took the phone away from her face in surprise.

"They hung up," she whispered.

"W-what did they.. who..?" Andy started to question, not sure if she should really be questioning at all.

"The kidnapper," Miranda replied as she looked at Andy with a steely determination, "they are demanding that I bring one million dollars in cash to an abandoned dock in New Jersey at midday today."

Andy felt all the colour drain from her face, "oh my God, Miranda.." Andy gasped as she tried to process this information. Surprisingly Miranda seemed to be miles ahead of her shocked assistant and turned as she heard a quiet knock on the door and Lieutenant Greene entered the room.

"I heard the call, we couldn't trace it, they used multiple.." he began.

"Yes, yes," Miranda waved her hand, not caring for the technical details of the police incompetence, "I'm certain they are professional enough to know what to do to not get caught."

Miranda picked up the phone and began dialling a number from memory.

"What are you doing?" Ryan asked, clearly not understanding the rules of engagement when it came to Miranda.

"Getting the money, of course," Miranda replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You understand that we don't advise.." he began.

".. negotiating with terrorists?" Miranda finished, "I'm quite aware, thank you Lieutenant."

As the call was connected Miranda began speaking in French as she exited the room and left Andy and Ryan blankly staring at each other.

"She's something else, ain't she?" Ryan questioned with a small smile.

"Yeah," Andy agreed, "so, what now? You can't let her go alone.."

"We might not have much choice," Ryan sighed, "she won't want to do anything to put her girls at risk."

"But it could be a trap!" Andy cried, "they could kill her, take the money and.."

"I'll call the boss," Ryan said, attempting to calm the brunette down, "maybe he can talk some sense into her.."

Andy scoffed a laugh as she flopped down onto the sofa.

An hour later Andy felt like she was attending the most surreal tea party of her life. Inspector Mundy had arrived and brought pastries and doughnuts for breakfast, Andy had made fresh tea and coffee and everyone gathered in the dining room to discuss the situation.

Miranda picked at a plain croissant with disinterest, "they explicitly said to come alone," she quietly stated, "and if they are anything like me when I don't get what I ask for.."

Andy shuddered at the thought but Don Mundy continued, "these are dangerous people, we don't know if they are trustworthy. It could be a trap for you.."

"That's a risk I have to take.." Miranda interrupted as she picked up a paper napkin and wiped the buttery residue from her hands, "I can't not go, my girls.."

"I understand but at least allow us to accompany you some of the way, so that we are nearby and can provide assistance if needed," Don said as he stood up to reach across the table for a doughnut, holding his flowing tie to his chest to prevent it from dropping into his coffee cup.

"Surely they will be looking out for that?" Miranda asked.

"Sure, which is why we will leave here a couple of hours before you leave the house, make out that you have thrown us out," Don said as he sat back down, "then we'll despatch a team, going the long way round, to a nearby location that can't be seen from the dock. They can't have eyes over the whole area. It's impossible."

Donald bit into his doughnut and Miranda pursed her lips as she looked to one side of the room wistfully.

"Miranda.." Andy began, speaking up for the first time, "I think.. I think you should have the police nearby. It could be a trap, something could go wrong.. what, what if they grab the money and speed off with the girls? The police could chase after them. If you're alone.. I-I just don't think it's a good idea."

Miranda had turned to look at the young assistant from halfway through her speech and now stared at her with a raised eyebrow. Silence filled the room, aside from the two police officers eating, as Miranda stared at Andy.

Finally she spoke, "yes, Andréa is quite right," she said as she turned to face Don, "you will have a discreet presence nearby."

Don gives a firm nod, "right, let's get the details sorted and then we'll get out of here."

Andy had, thankfully, never been in a police car before and sat anxiously in the passenger seat next to Ryan. Her heartbeat was pounding out of her chest as she continuously stared at the clock in the car.

Ryan held an ear piece tight to his ear, "she's in position."

Andy smirked as she muttered, "always early.."

Ryan looked at Andy, "how do you work for her? Must be hard.."

"Not really," Andy muttered, "well, it's hard work but Miranda is okay.."

Ryan laughed out loud, "I find that hard to believe.."

Andy smiled and cocked her head to one side, "okay, sometime she's a nightmare.. but that's just her way. I have a pretty good relationship with her these days, she's almost stopped torturing me.."

"Almost, eh?" Ryan laughed, "sounds like a dream job!"

Andy stared out of the window of the car in distraction as she took in the surroundings of the fish yard they were parked in.

"I did a bit of research on her," Ryan continued as he took a big bite of a sandwich, "sounds like a complete nightmare!"

Andy rolled her eyes as she could feel the judgement and lack of understanding coming from the man in waves, something she was more than familiar with after living with Nate.

"She's .. an acquired taste," Andy admitted, "speaking of which.. do you ever stop eating?"

Ryan smiled, "part of the job, eat when you can because you never know when you'll get another chance¬¬. Suppose eating isn't a big part of your job?"

Andy laughed, "it's a much talked about part of my job. What you can eat, what you definitely can't eat, what you shouldn't eat even though you really want to. When you should eat. How much you should eat.. I don't get involved."

"Really? I would have thought Miranda would want her assistants to all fit a certain shape and size?" Ryan asked as he ate another bite.

"Not really, she wants you to look the part, you know, wear the right clothes but she doesn't order you to lose weight or anything like that.." Andy replied.

Ryan nodded as he considered this, "do you think I'd be a good Runway model?"

He leaned back towards his window and gave Andy a dramatic pout as he posed making her laugh, "oh yeah, definitely, once all this is over I'm sure Miranda will want you for the cover!"

Andy shifted in her seat and realised that her heeled shoe was caught on something, with a frown she leaned down and saw a piece of material. She leaned forward and picked up the black silky material and turned it over in her hands.

As she looked at it she shuddered, the ghostface mask sent a shiver down her spine.

"Ah sorry, I thought that was in the boot, going to a party with some of the guys at the station," Ryan apologised.

"Yeah, you mentioned," Andy said as she looked at the mask, "must have been terrifying for Miranda to see this take her children.."

Ryan nodded, "yeah, but she's tough, she'll get over it in time."

"And the girls?" Andy questioned as she looked at him with a little anger for so quickly brushing off Miranda's feelings.

Ryan shrugged, "I've seen a lot of things in this job, a lot of it terrible, you just gotta move on."

Andy looked away and blinked a little to clear the thoughtless comment from her mind. Obviously he had seen some of the worse that human life had to offer but Andy wasn't ready for that kind of negativity in her life.

Ryan gently took the mask from Andy's lap, "sorry, let me get this out of your way," he said while analysing Andy's face to check if she was okay.

Andy quietly nodded, "it's okay, I just.."

Ryan held his hand up to silence her as he listened to his ear piece. For the second time in a few hours Andy was silently and anxiously awaiting information from the person next to her. Ryan sighed, "it's off, we're going back to the house."

"What?" Andy sat up straight, "what the hell happened?"

"Kidnapper called her and said it's off, they know we're here," Ryan said as he quickly wrapped his sandwich up and put his seatbelt back on.

Andy quickly put her seatbelt on as well, "how did they know that? What happens now?"

"No idea, they said they know it's a trap and to go back to the house and await further instructions. Hopefully they'll give her another chance at a drop.." Ryan said as he slammed the car into gear and started to speed out of the dock area.

Andy's mind was reeling, "how could they know? We were all so careful!"

"I dunno, maybe they have a bigger team than we thought?" Ryan questioned with a frustrated thump of the steering wheel.

"You think they saw one of the police cars?" Andy asked, "but we were a long way from Miranda's location.."

"It doesn't always work out the way you want it to.." Ryan said with a sigh, "let's just focus on getting the next drop right. You might want to try to convince your boss to go it alone.."

Andy looked at Ryan in shock, "but isn't that dangerous?"

Ryan nodded, "yeah, but then so is this.. There's no right or wrong, no text book that can tell you what to do for the best, every case is different."

Andy nodded her understanding with a frustrated sigh.

By the time Andy got back to the townhouse Miranda was already there and was pacing the hallway like a wild animal. Don Mundy stood to attention by the closet and watched the older woman pacing, "they knew," Miranda whispered in rage, "someone must have told them!"

"Or they could be bluffing, it could have been a hoax from the beginning to rattle you, they could have seen a marked squad car that was nothing to do with us and gotten spooked," Don reasoned.

Miranda scoffed a laugh and stared pointedly at him, "how many people are in your team, working on this project? How many of your people knew I was stood there with an ugly bag filled with ransom money? They knew! And now I need to gain their trust again.. My poor girls!"

Don dragged a hand through his hair with a sigh, "Ryan," he sighed, "I want to streamline comms in the team, information is to be distributed strictly on a need to know basis," his eyes flicked towards Miranda, "I'm sure there is no leak in our team but we'll take precautions regardless."

"I'm on it," Ryan nodded as he got his mobile out and started typing out emails.

Miranda inclined her head in an almost imperceptible nod.

"If there is a leak, I'll find it, we're also working on a new enquiry line that Ryan flagged up to me earlier," Don said, "I can't say a lot but I'll tell you more as soon as we have some concrete. In the meantime I'm afraid it's back to the waiting game."

"How delightful," Miranda sighed with venom dripping from her voice.

Don nodded with compassion, "we will both head back to the office, I'm legally required to tell you that your phone line is being recorded for the meantime as per your wishes and I'll be in touch as soon as anything happens."

Miranda inclined her head and watched as the two men hurriedly made their escapes.

"Utter incompetence," Miranda sighed once the door was closed behind them.

Andy stood quietly in the hallway, not wishing to agree or disagree with Miranda in the fiery mood she was in.

"What are you still doing here, Andréa?" Miranda sighed in a not unkind voice, obviously perplexed that the brunette had yet to leave her side.

Andy frowned, "I'm..I'm not going to leave you in the middle of this.. I have been dealing with Runway issues as and when they arise. Your diary has been cleared for the next couple of days, no one knows why. There's no need for me to be at the office when you're not there, so I'm here."

"If there's no need for you to be at the office when I'm not there.. then go home," Miranda sighed.

"I don't want to go home," Andy said causing Miranda to look up at the younger woman in confusion.

"Is something wrong with your home?" Miranda asked.

"It doesn't have you in it," Andy said without quite thinking, "I mean.. I mean, I want to be with you, while this is going on. I don't think you should be alone. I don't want you to be alone.."

Miranda looked positively perplexed by the whole thing but gently shook her head to remove any confusion, "it's time for lunch, Andréa, get us something delivered." Miranda turned on her heel and walked into the study leaving Andy with a smile on her face at finally being able to do something useful for her employer, something she could easily accomplish.

An hour later the food had been delivered, served and consumed by the two women and they now sat in silence opposite each other at the small kitchen table. Andy had been trying to think of something to say for the last half an hour and had failed miserably. She didn't want to talk about work, she didn't want to talk about Runway people, she certainly didn't want to talk about the girls. She was sure Miranda wouldn't want to talk about herself and would be completely uninteresting in talking about Andy which left very little to discuss.

"Isn't the Chef expecting you home?" Miranda quietly asked.

"The Chef?" Andy asked with confusion as she looked at the discarded take away boxes from the restaurant she had ordered from.

"Your Chef," Miranda reiterated with annoyance, "your partner."

Andy thought for a few moments before suddenly understanding Miranda's thought process, "oh, Nate! No, no we broke up."

"I see," Miranda said as she continued to push some food around her plate, "then is there someone else? Waiting for you at home, I mean?"

Andy swallowed nervously, "er, no, I live alone. No one waiting for me at home," and then she added, "I'm single," and then immediately kicked herself for sounding like a teenager.

"I see," Miranda repeated.

Another silence ensued and Andy sat still at the table wishing that something, anything would break the silence and remove some of the awkwardness that Miranda was not apparently sensing at all, or if she was she certainly wasn't bothered by it.

"I hate Halloween," Miranda finally said.

"Me too," Andy agreed with a nod.

Miranda looked up at Andy in surprise, "really? I thought all Americans loved Halloween?"

Andy chuckled, Miranda had only spent a few years in Britain as a child and she had dual citizenship however she had done everything possible to strip herself of all British traits such as an accent, for all intents and purposes Miranda liked to portray that she was American through and through. Except for when it came to Halloween or Thanksgiving when she would suddenly reassert her British heritage and mock the traditions.

"I never liked it, too much of a coward I guess," Andy shrugged her shoulders, "I didn't want to knock at neighbours doors and I didn't like the scary dressing up."

Miranda analysed the young woman carefully before nodding, "yes, sometimes it is taken too far."

The doorbell rang and Andy immediately stood up, "I'll get it," she called over her shoulder before Miranda had a chance to move. She was more than happy for the distraction of the awkward conversation with her boss and quickly crossed the hallway to the front door.

On the door step were Ryan and Don both with sombre expressions on their face.

"Is everything okay?" Andy asked quickly.

"I'm afraid not, Miss Sachs," Don said as he stepped forward and grabbed Andy's wrist, "I'm arresting you under suspicion of kidnap, you don't have to say anything.."

"Andréa?!" Miranda's panicked voice crossed the hallway as she saw the Inspector placing handcuffs onto her young assistant, "what on earth is going on?"

"Take her to the car," Don said to Ryan who grabbed Andy and quickly removed her from the house.

"We searched her computer at Runway and we have found evidence to demonstrate that she is involved in the kidnap," Don said solemnly, "we need to take her in and question her."

"No," Miranda whispered, "no, not Andréa, she couldn't have.."

"I'm sorry Miss Pri.. Miranda," Don corrected himself, "we had our suspicions earlier but we had to be absolutely sure so we have been waiting for the tech guys to complete the scans of the hard drive. There's no mistake. I'm sorry."

Miranda blinked in confusion before glaring at Don, "I want to speak to her!"

"I'm sorry, she's been placed under arrest," Don replied firmly, "we need to question her, the first few hours are critical."

Miranda looked lost as she watched Andy being placed in to the back of the police car with some force from Ryan. She spun to address Don, "I wish to speak with her as soon as you have completed your questioning."

Don nodded, knowing that Miranda Priestly was going to get what she wanted and there was no point even attempting to argue with her. He told her that he would call her and send a car for her once they had finished questioning Andy and left the house. Miranda closed the door behind him and took a deep breath as she tried to force the tears back down.


	3. Chapter 3

Andy sat in a cold jail cell waiting. It was hard to know exactly what she was waiting for as she had never previously been arrested and didn't know what was happening. After being dragged in handcuffs from Miranda's house the previous afternoon she had been placed in a holding cell for hours. For a while Andy wondered if they had forgotten about her or if they realised they had made a mistake. Then it slowly dawned on her that they were playing mind games with her, locking her away and leaving her in an empty and lonely room for as long as possible in an attempt to break her.

She'd been allowed one phone call and called her father who was a retired lawyer. That conversation hadn't gone particularly well and her father had insisted on coming to New York on the next available flight, he was worried but there was more than a small amount of anger in his tone. He hated that Andy still worked for Miranda, many a family telephone conversation or face to face gathering had centred around his desire to convince Andy to change careers or even move home, anything to get Andy away from Miranda.

He'd advised her to no comment on any of the police questions, something that Andy was very much against. She told her father that she was innocent and the sooner the police stopped questioning her the sooner they would start looking for the real culprits. Andy's father wasn't so convinced nor so concerned with the girls' real kidnappers, he was far more interested in ensuring that Andy was released without charge.

So, after all the waiting, when Andy was finally interviewed she didn't say 'no comment' once, she answered every question as honestly and openly as she could. Which had been fine until they started showing her documents that had found on her work computer. An instant message conversation between Andy and someone else discussing the girls' movements, an email from Andy sending Miranda's personal car details, a copy of Andy's bank statement with a $50,000 deposit having recently been made.

Andy just stared at the documents in shock and horror, she knew nothing about them, she tried to tell the police officers that she knew nothing about them but they clearly didn't believe her. As the evidence stacked up against Andy she sat back in her chair and knew she was being set up. This was bigger than she could deal with. She hated to say it but even as a fully grown independent woman, she needed her father.

"No comment," she replied to a question and Don Mundy sighed as he posed another question. Andy replied the same answer. A couple of minutes later the interview was terminated and she was returned to her cell to wait.

Andy paced the small cell wondering what was happening, how she would convince the police and Miranda of her innocence, wondering why she was being set up. After a while she eventually sat down on the metal framed bed complete with worn mattress and no bedding and stared at the wall. Day turned into night and eventually Andy fell asleep sitting upright on the bed with her back against a whitewashed brick wall.

When she next opened her eyes it was Wednesday, she could hear the distant sounds of various doors being opened and closed and realised that the drunks who had been put in a cell to cool off over night were now being released. She stood up and leaned closer to the solid metal door and listened more intently to the sounds vibrating up and down the corridor outside.

Just as she was leaning on the door to gather more intel on what was happening she heard the door being loudly unlocked and she took a couple of steps back in fright. The door quickly swung open and an unfriendly looking woman police officer stood in the doorway looking Andy up and down with contempt.

"You have a visitor," she eventually said.

"Oh, oh, great!" Andy's smile died as quickly as it started as the police officer stared at her.

"Interview room two, let's move," she replied as she took a step back and pointed for Andy to leave the cell.

"Is it my Dad? What time is it?" Andy asked as she exited the room and started to walk up the corridor.

"Interview room two, I haven't got all day," the officer answered.

Andy walked a little quicker and outside the interview room found another female police officer who seemed just as miserable as the first. She had a pair of handcuffs in her hands and gestured for Andy to raise her hands. Andy sighed and raised her hands as winced as the tight handcuffs were placed on her hands she didn't have much time to think about that as she was dragged into the interview room and placed on an uncomfortable chair. Both police officers left the room and Andy was alone but for a small table and an empty chair facing her, three of the walls were standard whitewash brick and the last wall contained a large mirror and Andy felt the hairs on the back of her neck go up in the knowledge that she was being watched.

The waiting game began again and Andy was left for an unknown amount of time, she got the distinct impression that they were constantly attempting to break her down. And it was working. If she had anything to spill she would have by now as the intimidation techniques were certainly working however basic.

Suddenly another door swung open and Andy looked up with a smile expecting her father to walk in. The smile was instantly removed from her face when she saw who had walked in.

"Miranda.." she breathed in terror.

Miranda breezed into the room and the door closed behind her, she sat at the table and placed her designer bag at her feet. Her sunglasses were firmly in place and she looked at Andy with a bored yet determined face.

"Where are my girls, Andréa?" she hissed.

"Miranda, I promise, I have no idea, I have nothing to do with this, I real.."

"These excuses bore me," Miranda breathed, "what is it you want? Money? I have it. To hurt me? You have done so, more than I can express. Let's end this charade right now."

Andy sighed and brought her cuffed hands up to wipe away the tears that were starting to show, "Miranda, I have nothing to do with this, I don't understand.."

"Well that makes two of us," Miranda interrupted, "I trusted you, let you into my house, my life and you betray me. And what's worse is I would never have doubted you!"

Andy winced at the raised tone of Miranda's voice and attempted to reply but ended up just stuttering.

"Why? Why did you do this?" Miranda sighed, "help me to understand, Andréa. Why do you hate me so much?"

"I don't hate you," Andy replied with fire in her eyes, "I could never hate you. Why would I have stayed with you two nights ago if I hated you? Do I look like I'm involved in this? Have any of my actions looked like that of someone who is involved in kidnapping Caroline and Cassidy?"

Miranda's eyes burned wild at the mention of her daughter's names.

Andy continued as tears streamed down her face, "I am innocent, I don't know why this is happening to me but I would never, ever hurt those girls, I love them like family, I would do anything to protect them!"

Miranda scoffed, "I've seen the data they removed from your work computer, Andréa.."

"So have I," Andy replied quickly, "I saw it for the first time yesterday in this very room. I'm being framed, Miranda," Miranda rolled her eyes and laughed out loud but Andy continued, "think what you like but in your heart of hearts you know you can trust me, you know I would never do this. None of this makes sense and the more time that is being focussed on me the less chance there is of catching who really did this."

Andy finished her speech and the two women stared at each other in silence.

"Finished?" Miranda finally asked.

"No," Andy replied but paused as soon as the words were out of her mouth as if unsure.

"Well, pray don't keep us all in suspense, Andréa. What revelation is next?" Miranda smirked.

"I love you," Andy said, tears starting to fall down her face.

Miranda balked in shock, unable to form a sentence.

"I know it's crazy but I do," Andy continued, "I would never do anything to hurt you, seeing you in pain hurts me. I just need you to know that because I don't know what is happening to me or what is going to happen to me and I may never see you again.. so there you have it."

Andy hung her head as tears dropped from her cheek bones onto her handcuffed hands that sat still in her lap.

Miranda blinked in surprise a couple of times before quickly grabbing her handbag and leaving the room.

The unfriendly female police officers soon dragged Andy from the interview room and returned her to her cell. They took the handcuffs off and pushed her into her cell, she sat on the bed and stared into nothingness. Her mind was swimming with questions, about the kidnap, about the girls, about whoever was framing her and why, about Miranda. Mainly about how she had just managed to destroy her own life in the last few minutes by idiotically telling Miranda that she was in love with her. Now she would lose her job, any chance of a career and she'd lose Miranda.

Suddenly all of the waiting in interview rooms and jail cells seemed pathetic, if they truly wanted to break a criminal then they needed to get them to admit they loved someone who would never love them back and thus ruining their hopes and dreams.

Andy really had no idea how much time had passed when the sound of the metal door being unlocked woke her from her thoughts. She made no move to look up, she wasn't sure she could take any more.

"Andy, sweetheart?" a familiar voice whispered.

Andy snapped her head up and jumped to her feet, "Daddy!"

Mark Sachs grabbed his daughter and pulled her into a full body hug, "oh sweetie, are you okay?"

More tears started to fall and Andy shook her head as Mark tried to look into his daughter's eyes to assess how she was doing.

"I don't know what's going on, why am I here?" she whimper through tears.

"I've been speaking with Inspector Mundy," Mark said clearly and slowly so Andy could register what he was telling her, "the computer techs here looked at the documents on your hard drive to see if they had been tampered with and they hadn't. But then they looked at the non-kidnap related documents and they had been tampered with."

Andy frowned, "I don't understand.."

"They were looking to see if new documents had been added to your hard drive, they hadn't. That's because the hard drive already had those documents on. The new documents are your work related files. Someone went to the trouble of creating the kidnap related documents in real time and then added the content of your real hard drive later on."

"So, they know I'm not involved?" Andy's head snapped up.

"No," Mark replied with a sad shake of the head, "they still think you're involved. But they don't have enough evidence to keep you here."

Andy looked around the cell, "so, I can leave?"

"Yes, sweetie," Mark smiled, "we're getting you out of here right now."

"Thank God, I need to talk to Miranda.." Andy started but stopped as her father held up a warning hand.

"No, you can absolutely not talk to Miranda. You need to look out for yourself, Andy. I know you care about those kids and I know you want to help but now you really have to help yourself by keeping out of the way."

Andy was about to argue but closed her mouth and quietly nodded her agreement. She had no intention of doing what her father said but the first step was getting out of the cell.

Vera was dead. Andy knew it was only a matter of time before the Ivy houseplant really bit the dust but it was still a painful discovery upon getting back to her apartment to note that Vera really was dead. She threw her keys in on the kitchen counter and sighed as she opened the fridge that was simply full of various beverages. Andy never had food home any more as she spent so little time at home and the time she was there was reserved for sleeping and rushing to get ready for another day at the Runway office.

She grabbed a can of drink and downed it in a few short minutes. Jail really made a girl thirsty. Her father had sighed countless documents to grant Andy her freedom and when Andy stepped out of the municipal building he had managed to convince him to go back to his hotel and rest after the flight and the rush to get to her. He eyes her suspiciously and had asked if she wanted him out of the way but Andy reassured him that she simply wanted to go home, shower, change and sleep. He'd dropped her off at her apartment and they arranged to meet the next morning for breakfast.

Crushing the empty can and putting it in the recycling Andy went into the bedroom and started removing her two day old clothes and throwing them into the laundry hamper. She entered the bathroom and turned on the shower and while she waited for the water to heat up she began brushing her teeth, it was the little things in life that she'd missed the most.

After a long and hot shower Andy exited the bathroom in a towel and started looking for clothes in her wardrobe. She wasn't looking for the usual Runway clothes she wore, no, she was looking for clothes she would have worn pre-Runway. A pair of black jeans and a dark grey blouse along with some trainers and a beaten up old rucksack and she was straight out of the apartment again.

In the car park underneath her building she climbed into Nate's car that he was storing there until he could take it to Boston. She cleared away the empty chip packets and takeaway bags, throwing them onto the backseat before starting the engine and exiting the car park.

During the drive Andy tried to ignore the sensible voice of her father telling her to absolutely not do what she was about to do. But Andy was beyond sensible, she knew that she had been framed and that the girls were still in danger so she simply had to do something and sitting at home in her apartment hoping that Vera would make a late resurgence was not on the cards at all.

Within a few minutes she was parked at the junction at the end of Miranda's street. Miranda's street was one-way which meant all traffic would have to pass Andy's position on the way out of the street. Andy angled the seat and settled in for the day, she didn't know exactly what she was looking for but she'd know when she saw it.


	4. Chapter 4

Thursday 30th October

With the autumn evenings drawing in it hadn't been long before darkness had fallen. Andy fidgeted in the driver's seat of Nate's car in an attempt to get comfortable. She'd seen a number of children dressed up in Halloween outfits walking up the street, presumably to a pre-Halloween celebration nearby. She absently wondered what Miranda and the girls normally did for Halloween, she knew Miranda wasn't keen on the holiday but she also knew she would never obstruct the girls from enjoying the fun of the season. She wondered if the girls would have normally been attending the party that most of the street was going to. Would Miranda dress up? Did Gucci do Halloween costumes?

At that thought Andy knew the hunger pains were really getting to her, she glanced at the clock which read one o'clock in the morning so she took another bite of the protein bar she had found under the seat. It seemed to mainly consist of peanut butter and Andy decided that she was using up the same amount of calories chewing the bar that she was putting in. Still she knew she had to conserve the bar for as long as possible if she was going to continue her stakeout mission. So far nothing much had happened, at midnight Lieutenant Greene had turned up and had been in the townhouse since. Andy continued chewing the single bite of the protein bar that she had taken, finding her mouth practically glued closed which was good as her mouth would have fallen open at what she saw next.

Someone in a Scream costume complete with the ghostface mask casually approached Lieutenant Green's car and placed a piece of paper under the windscreen wiper before walking off again. Andy looked up and down the street as she debated whether or not she should go and look at the note or if it was too risky.

Andy agonised for five minutes which seemed like a lifetime as she looked up and down the two roads and across at the car. Eventually she decided to go for it and once the coast looked clear she opened the car door and took a step out but as she did she saw Miranda's front door open and she quickly jumped back into the car and quietly closed the door again. Ryan Greene hopped down the steps and quickly snatched the piece of paper from the windscreen and got into his car.

Andy frowned, he didn't seemed surprised for the note to be there, it was almost like he expected it.

"Oh! Oh.. you idiot!" Andy said as she smashed her palms to her face remember the mask in his car, "he's in on it, he framed you because you saw the mask! Andy, you idiot!"

She was shocked out of berating herself by Ryan starting his car and the headlights lighting up the street. Andy ducked down and started the car so she'd be ready to follow him once he'd passed her by, hoping that he hadn't seen her already. She held her breath as she listened for his car passing her and once she was sure he'd gone she peaked up and readjusted her seat, grabbing her seatbelt and fastening it as she switched the headlights on and pulled out to follow him.

Having never attempted to secretly follow a kidnapping police officer Andy struggled to follow the car without having too much or too little space in between the vehicles. She was convinced that she was making a bad job of it and was terrified that Ryan might suddenly stop the car and re-arrest her. Or worse, lead her down a dead end and take care of her himself. Her heart was nearly beating out of her chest as she sat ramrod straight in the driver's seat with wide eyes watching every single movement of the car in front of her.

After a short journey Ryan pulled into a large multi-storey car park, driving up the circular ramps at some speed. Andy followed slowly attempting to put space between them until she got to the top of the car park. In the dim artificial light she could see Ryan's car in the distance so she pulled up and waited.

A few moments later another car appeared in the car park and drove up to Ryan's car. Andy grabbed her mobile phone and snapped a couple of photographs of the meet up. She couldn't make out what was happening so she examined the photos she had taken, attempting to zoom in on the scene. All of the pictures were too blurry to make anything out and Andy sighed as she looked up, she needed to get closer.

She opened the door and slipped out, quietly closing the door behind her and crouching down as she made her way along the rows of parked cars to get closer. Occasionally there was a gap in the row and she would quickly sprint to the next vehicle hoping that she wouldn't be seen. As she got closer she could hear Ryan's voice but couldn't quite make out what he was saying. Crouching behind a car she edged out to see if she could see anything.

She quickly snapped her head back with a stunned silence as her mind whirled out of control.

"She's agreed to the new figure, you just make sure she goes alone this time," a female voice said.

"Shouldn't be a problem, I was just talking to her," Ryan replied, "she's seriously spooked and now the assistant is out of the way there's no one to convince her otherwise."

"Great, drop is tomorrow at seven, I'll head back to the house and check the brats are alive," the female voice said.

Andy spun around and jogged her way back to her car as quickly but as carefully as she could. Once she got there she opened the door and threw herself into the car, starting the engine but dimming the headlights. She was panting and adrenaline was running through her veins. She picked up her phone with shaking hands and stared at the screen. Should she call Miranda? Would she believe her? Would she think it was a trap? What about the police? Was anyone else involved? Would they believe her?

The cars in the distance started to separate and Andy make the decision quickly, she had to do this alone. She couldn't risk anything happening to the girls and now she knew who was involved she was even more worried about them. As Ryan's car left the car park Andy ducked down again and waited for him to pass her before getting ready to follow the other car.

The car took another route out of the dark car park and Andy followed at a safe distance. Alice Coppard was a much talked about former assistant of Miranda's who had apparently cracked under the pressure. The Irish girl with curly red hair had worked for Miranda for four months when, according to Runway legend, she had suddenly flipped one day and threatened to kill Miranda. Apparently she had broken a bottle and threatened Miranda with it, legend had it that Miranda stepped over the broken glass and ordered Alice to clean it up and get some more coffee. It had taken three people to bring Alice down as she threw herself towards Miranda's retreating form. So legend had it.

Although Andy had never met Alice she instantly recognised an Irish accent and saw the curly red locks and knew that this was her repayment. Anyone who knew Miranda knew that no matter how important Runway was to her, the girls were more important. Andy followed the car in the dark New York streets, hoping that her trailing skills were getting better. After a fifteen minute drive Alice pulled into a residential area and Andy pulled up and turned the lights off as she watched the car drive further down the road. Once the car turned off Andy quickly started her car again and raced down to the junction just in time to catch the car making another turn in the distance. Again Andy followed and made the same turn, this time more slowly and saw Alice parking up on a driveway outside a large but rundown house.

Andy stopped the car a small distance from the house behind some other vehicles and waited for Alice get out of the car and enter the house. Andy picked up her mobile phone and held it in the palm of her hand and stared at it, willing it to give it the answer she sought. She accessed the contacts section of her phone and hovered her thumb above Miranda's name for a few moments before scrolling to Don Mundy's recently added details. A few moments passed before she exited the contacts screen and threw the phone onto the passenger seat with a sigh. She looked at her watch and then at the house and then around the deserted street.

Ten minutes passed as she weighed up all her options and she took a deep, calming breath as she opened the car door and exited the vehicle and quietly walked towards the ominously dark house. She quickly crept up the side of the garden, her eyes flitting to all of the windows to see if she could see anything or anyone and was relieved when she found nothing. She held her breath as she got closer to the side of the house and crept below windows as she made her way to the back of the building. Her heart was beating so hard and so fast she thought for sure that Alice would hear her by that alone.

She poked her head around the back corner of the house and saw a stream of light coming from a basement window. She ducked down and looked through the window and could see Caroline and Cassidy tied back to back and gagged while Alice paced endlessly in front of them, seemingly ranting at them about something. Andy got closer to the window and with relief noted that the girls looked unharmed, terrified but unharmed. Anger welled up in Andy's body as she thought about the terror Alice had put the poor girls though, at the torment Miranda was being forced to go through. She looked around the garden and picked up a heavy looking garden gnome and walked around to the front of the house.

Unbridled fury was all that Andy saw as she knocked on the door with as much restraint as she could manage. She waited a few moments and knocked again, knowing that Alice would move away from the girls to see who was knocking on the door at that time of the morning. Before long she saw the net curtain on the half glass front door twitch and she took that as her cue to hurl the gnome through the window and straight into Alice's face. The Irish woman screamed out and Andy took the opportunity to reach her hand through the broken glass and unlocked and open the door. As soon as Andy had opened the door Alice had regained her balance and attempted to slam the door in Andy's face. Andy pushed back and a battle of the wills broke out, sadly for Alice Andy had an elder brother and had played this game a lot throughout the years. She pushed with all her might and then stood back and let go of the door making Alice fall forward. As soon as she stumbled Andy kicked the door with such a powerful force it smacked Alice in the face.

Andy entered the darkened hallway and was immediately at a disadvantage due to the lack of light, she stumbled into a small table and as she tried to figure out what was happening she felt something heavy being plunged into the back of her head. She cried out and fell to the ground reaching for the back of her head. A second later Alice was on top of her and pulling the arm back with all her might, Andy screamed in agony and turned over to throw Alice off.

Alice fell to one side and Andy turned over to face the woman only to receive a punch to the face that Andy was sure broke her nose. Andy reeled backwards and into the damn hallway table again, this time reaching behind her with her good arm and tipping the table towards Alice, satisfyingly loud sounding object fell from the table towards Alice. The redhead raised her arms to protect her face and then stumbled to her feet and ran out of the door and down the steps towards the car. Andy stood up follow her but it was too late, she saw the car screeching off of the driveway and into the street.

With a shaky hand Andy reached up to touch the back of her head and felt hot liquid coat her hand, she yelped at the pain the gently brush of her hand caused her and quickly removed her hand. Her other arm was agony where Alice had attempted to wrench it from its socket. Andy stood still with deep breaths while she attempted to calm her racing pulse, she looked around in the darkness and eventually saw a small stream of light which looked like it was coming from underneath a door.

She followed the light and placed her good hand on the door feeling for a handle, once she found it she twisted it and opened the door revealing a much brighter light. She held her hand up to shield her eyes and quickly made her way down the old wooden stairs towards the basement.

Caroline and Cassidy were looking around in fear at all the noise they had just heard upstairs and their wide eyes became wider when they saw Andy approach them. The brunette quickly untied the girls and removed their gags and the two rushed her with a hug from each side.

"Andy, oh my God," Cassidy cried out in relief.

"What happened to you?" Caroline said, quickly followed by, "is she gone? Is Alice gone?"

"She's gone, but we have to get out of here right now," Andy said as she took a step back from the girls, "she might come back so let's go."

"No offence, Andy, but you look terrible," Cassidy said with her mouth open in shock.

"Thanks Cassidy, really appreciate the pep talk," Andy smirked as she tried to herd the girls towards the stairs.

"No, like, really terrible," Cassidy said firmly as she stared at Andy's face.

Andy reached her hand up and felt her face and realised she was bleeding, "er, yeah, I think she broke my nose.."

"She punched you?" Caroline's eyes flew wide open, "did you punch her?"

"Amongst other things," Andy nodded and then winced at the pain coming from the back of her head, "we can discuss this later, let's go.."

Both girls nodded and Andy pushed them along to get them up the stairs as quickly as possible, once upstairs she told them to be careful as there was glass on the floor and told them to look for a light switch. She run her hands along the walls to see if she could feel a switch and then she heard a click and the main hallway light came on, she turned around to see that Cassidy had found the switch and both girls were looking at the scene in front of them in horror.

There was glass, broken ornaments, pieces of wood, blood and two pieces or a garden gnome strewn along the floor. Andy was surprised by how much blood was on the floor and briefly hoped that most of it was Alice's.

"Come on, let's move," she ordered and the girls quickly filed out of the house. Once in the garden Andy grabbed a hand each and ran with them to the car and quickly unlocked the doors and piled them into the back.

She closed the door and the motion caused her to sway, she rested her hands on the roof of the car to steady herself. As she removed her hands she could see perfect bloodied handprints on the roof of the car, illuminated by the dim street lights. She begun to fully understand that most of the blood she had seen in the hallway was most certainly not Alice's. She walked around the car and practically fell into the driver's seat.

"Andy," Cassidy said as she leaned forward, "I don't think you should drive.."

Andy closed her eyes in an attempt to focus her thoughts, "I know it looks bad but I just need to get us away from here, she could come back."

"Andy, I'm scared," Caroline whispered as she attempted to burrow herself back into the seat.

Andy turned around and gave the best smile she could considering the circumstances, "I know, honey, but I promise I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Do you trust me?"

Caroline nodded slowly and Andy smiled and turned to start the car. She turned on the headlights and turned the car around and quickly made her way out of the residential area they were in. She turned onto a large road and sped a little way down it, constantly checking her rear view mirror to assure herself that they were not being followed.

She could feel tiredness sweeping through her body and the faint feeling was growing in strength and was impossible to ignore. She turned the car into another residential area and took a few turns before stopping the car in front of a road sign.

"Clementine Parade Gardens," she whispered to the girls. She reached onto the passenger seat and picked up her mobile phone, passing it back to Cassidy, "call your Mom and tell her where we are.."

Cassidy grabbed the phone and quickly started dialling as she looked at Andy with concern. She held the phone to her ear and Caroline quickly climbed into the front of the car.

Andy reached forward with a shaky finger and Caroline frowned as she looked at what Andy was pointing to. Suddenly Caroline understood and she reached forward and pressed the button to lock the car doors. As the locks engaged Andy smiled at Caroline and her eyelids began to flutter closed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Friday – Halloween**

The headache was the first thing Andy recognised as she began to return to the waking world, the next was the pain in her face and the feeling of her left arm being weighted down. She couldn't quite open her eyes yet as if she had somehow forgotten how.

Sounds began to filter through the haze in her mind, the sound of many people's voices mingling into one constant drone, the sound of machines making various electronic noises. Andy tried again to open her eyes but she struggled again so she focused on the noises to try to awaken her body and senses further still.

"Put Catwoman in room four," she heard a male voice call out and she felt the muscles in her face frown.

"Mom, I think she's waking up," a young girl said, this voice much closer.

"Give her some room, Caroline," an older female voice whispered, a recognisable voice.

Andy's eyes flickered open and immediately closed again at the bright light that invaded her sensitive pupils.

"Cassidy, go and fetch that nurse," the older woman said, the voice getting closer.

Andy leaned her head to the side where the voice was coming from and attempted to open her eyes again. After much eyelid flickering and refocusing she saw a familiar face looking back at her.

"Miranda?" she whispered, her voice sounding like someone else's.

The woman smiled and reached her hand out to brush fallen locks of hair from Andy's face.

"Yo, Catwoman's just puked, can someone get a bucket?" a loud female voice shouted out as she passed behind Miranda.

Miranda rolled her eyes at the statement but continued smiling as she looked down at Andy.

"Where.." Andy started but was stopped by a cough bubbling up in her throat. The second the cough was released she winced in pain and decided against any unnecessary movement ever again.

"Shh," Miranda whispered, "lay still, you're in hospital, do you remember what happened?"

Andy frowned, another movement that seemed to hurt her. She could feel vague memories bubbling just under the surface and attempted to catch one of them. Suddenly everything flashed back to her and she attempted to sit upright, "the girls!"

Miranda removed her hand from the girl's hair and gently pushed at her shoulder instead, "are fine, thanks to you, Andréa, now lay back down."

"Ah, I see someone decided to wake up," a kindly female voice said and Andy turned her head lightly to see a nurse approaching her bed. She could see hectic scenes of a busy accident and emergency ward flashing behind the nurse, Andy saw a man walk by and frowned.

"Is that Osama Bin Laden?" she asked in confusion.

The nurse turned around and laughed, "yep, it's Halloween, Sweetie. Halloween in A&E.."

Andy nodded as the nurse began to fuss with a machine above Andy's head and could hear Miranda talking quietly to the nurse.

"She seems lucid, well, nearly.."

"It will take a while for her to adjust, she lost a lot of blood," the nurse replied softly, "she'll be much better within the next thirty minutes or so."

Andy looked down at her left arm to see it was in plaster and wrapped in bandages around her neck and shoulders at a particular angle which she couldn't seem to move. Her eyes started to focus towards the end of the bed where twin redheads were staring up at her with beaming smiles.

"You have the medication now, yes?" the nurses voice seemed distant as Andy smiled back at the girls and raised her good hand up to touch her face.

"Yes, when will she be able to come home?" Miranda asked as the nurse took hold of Andy's wondering hand.

"Don't touch your face, Sweetie, there's a lot of bruising.." the nurse said before turning to Miranda, "we'll see how she gets on but a couple of hours, maybe?"

Andy lifted her good hand again and stared at the various wires and drops poking in and out of her bandaged wrist in confusion.

This time Miranda took her hand and lowered it onto the bed, gripping it lightly in her soft hand, "I see, thank you.."

The nurse nodded and went to deal with another patient and Andy looked down at her hand in confusion.

"Girls, go with Nicholas and get something to eat and drink for yourselves," Miranda said indicating the large security guard who Andy hadn't noticed yet. The girls nodded and waved goodbye to Andy before walking off in search of the hospital canteen.

"Andréa.." Miranda whispered and paused for a while as Andy struggled to focus, "Andréa.."

Andy turned her head to see Miranda standing beside her bed and smiled, "hi, Miranda.."

Miranda laughed lightly, "hello, Andréa.."

With her free hand Miranda pulled a plastic chair over towards the side of the bed and sat down, all the while keeping a hold of the brunette's hand.

"How do you feel?" Miranda asked with a concerned expression.

Andy leaned closer to Miranda whispered conspiratorially, "I feel like shit.." she said with a smile.

Miranda swallowed a laugh behind a smile and a shake of the head, in much the same way adults do when a child makes an inappropriate but hilarious comment.

"Well, you were very foolish," Miranda said with a concerned look, "I don't know what you were thinking.."

Andy frowned, "what do you mean?"

"Going into that house.. getting into, into a.. fist fight! With that woman!" Miranda whispered tersely.

"She had Caroline and Cassidy," Andy frowned as if her actions were the obvious course of action.

"You should have called the police," Miranda pushed.

Andy thought for a second as she tried to grasp hold of why she hadn't done exactly that, she knew there was a damn good reason for it but she couldn't think of what it was. Suddenly she tried to sit up again, "Ryan! Ryan! Greene.. he is working.."

Miranda stood up and gently pushed the girl back down again, "yes, working with Miss Coppard, I know, lay down, Andréa."

"You know?" Andy asked with confusion.

"Yes, once the girls told me who was involved I told the police. They traced her car and Lieutenant Greene was with her," Miranda sniffed with distaste.

"So, they've caught them?" Andy attempted to clarify.

"Yes," Miranda nodded as she sat back down again, safe in the knowledge that Andy wasn't going to foolishly sit up again.

"So, you know I was nothing to do with it?" Andy pressed.

Miranda nodded, "yes," she whispered quietly, "I know they were framing you.. about our meeting, I'm sorry for how I spoke to you.."

Andy seemed to ignore Miranda's apology, "so, you know I'm innocent? Y-you trust me? Yes?"

Miranda nodded firmly as she could see the brunette becoming more and more anxious, "yes, I trust you Andréa, I'm sorry I doubted you. I'm still furious at you for going into that house alone. You could have been killed!"

Andy again ignored Miranda's apology and just sighed in relief that Miranda again believed in her and trusted her. She stared up at the ceiling in satisfaction before frowning, "how did I get here?"

Miranda looked down at the younger woman with a disbelieving smile, confused Andréa Sachs was certainly adorable.

"You had Cassidy call me, she told me where you were and I came to get you," Miranda explained, "and it was quite a shock finding you like that!"

Andy frowned with bewilderment and Miranda continued, "I thought you were dead!"

At Andy's flinch she closed her eyes and counted to three in her head before continuing on in a softer tone, "there was so much blood, I couldn't figure out what had happened to you.."

"I'm sorry, Miranda," Andy whispered and squeezed the soft hand that held hers.

"Looking through that car window, seeing you there.. it.. well, it made me realise some things.." Miranda continued while staring at an unidentifiable spot on Andy's bed linens.

Andy swallowed hard nodding her head, "okay.."

Miranda looked Andy in the eye, "okay? What is okay?"

"I messed up," Andy said with unshed tears sparkling in her eyes, "I know I'm fired, I know I won't see you again.."

Miranda frowned and stood up and took a step forward to place a small, soft kiss on Andy's lips to silence her. Moving her head back a little the older woman stared at Andy's confused expression, "seeing you laying there, my girls holding onto you, realising why I.. I have been so hard on you.. I need you, Andréa," Miranda whispered, her lips inches away from the younger woman's.

"I'm concussed, right?" Andy gave a lopsided smile.

Miranda laughed and stood up straight, "actually, you are," she stated with a shake of the head at the ridiculous situation they were in.

"I was so worried," Miranda continued, looking around to make sure no one could overhear their conversation, "I thought you were gone and in that moment I realised.. my.. my feelings for you."

The tear that Andy had been holding back finally tracked its way down her cheek and Miranda brushed it away softly with the back of her hand.

"Zombie coming in with a broken ankle," a male nurse called over to a doctor and Miranda looked across the ward in annoyance.

"Only you could inconvenience me this much, really, Andréa, a hospital on Halloween, when I'm trying to tell you how I feel!" Miranda bemoaned as she raised her hand to gesture to the madness happening all around them.

Andy tried to shrug a sorry as she smiled at the older woman with disbelief.

"Get some rest, I need you a little more compos mentis if they're going to allow me to take you home," Miranda said with hands on her hips as she looked at the various patients in the busy department.

"Yes, Miranda," Andy whispered with a smile as she closed her eyes to catch up on some well-deserved rest. Just before she drifted off to sleep she realised that Halloween was going to be her new favourite holiday.


End file.
